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20 pages, 6553 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Advanced System-on-Chip Field-Programmable-Gate-Array-Powered Data Acquisition System for Pixel Detectors

by Jorge Jiménez-Sánchez, Pedro Blanco-Carmona, José María Hinojo-Montero, Francisco Rogelio Palomo, Rafael Luis Millán and Fernando Muñoz-Chavero

Sensors 2024, 24(1), 218; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24010218 - 30 Dec 2023

Viewed by 735

Abstract

Particle detector systems require data acquisition systems (DAQs) as their back-end. This paper presents a new edge-computing DAQ that is capable of handling multiple pixel detectors simultaneously and was designed for particle-tracking experiments. The system was designed for the ROC4SENS readout chip, but [...] Read more.

Particle detector systems require data acquisition systems (DAQs) as their back-end. This paper presents a new edge-computing DAQ that is capable of handling multiple pixel detectors simultaneously and was designed for particle-tracking experiments. The system was designed for the ROC4SENS readout chip, but its control logic can be adapted for other pixel detectors. The DAQ was based on a system-on-chip FPGA (SoC FPGA), which includes an embedded microprocessor running a fully functional Linux system. An application using a client–server architecture was developed to facilitate remote control and data visualization. The comprehensive DAQ is very compact, thus reducing the typical hardware load in particle tracking experiments, especially during the obligatory characterization of particle telescopes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Particle Detectors and Radiation Detectors)

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16 pages, 3609 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Principal Component Analysis Applied to Digital Pulse Shape Analysis for Isotope Discrimination

by Katherine Guerrero-Morejón, José María Hinojo-Montero, Fernando Muñoz-Chavero, Juan Luis Flores-Garrido, Juan Antonio Gómez-Galán and Ramón González-Carvajal

Sensors 2023, 23(23), 9418; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23239418 - 26 Nov 2023

Viewed by 951

Abstract

Digital pulse shape analysis (DPSA) techniques are becoming increasingly important for the study of nuclear reactions since the development of fast digitizers. These techniques allow us to obtain the (A, Z) values of the reaction products impinging on the new generation solid-state detectors. [...] Read more.

Digital pulse shape analysis (DPSA) techniques are becoming increasingly important for the study of nuclear reactions since the development of fast digitizers. These techniques allow us to obtain the (A, Z) values of the reaction products impinging on the new generation solid-state detectors. In this paper, we present a computationally efficient method to discriminate isotopes with similar energy levels, with the aim of enabling the edge-computing paradigm in future field-programmable gate-array-based acquisition systems. The discrimination of isotope pairs with analogous energy levels has been a topic of interest in the literature, leading to various solutions based on statistical features or convolutional neural networks. Leveraging a valuable dataset obtained from experiments conducted by researchers in the FAZIA Collaboration at the CIME cyclotron in GANIL laboratories, we aim to establish a comparative analysis regarding selectivity and computational efficiency, as this dataset has been employed in several prior publications. Specifically, this work presents an approach to discriminate between pairs of isotopes with similar energies, namely, ^12,13C, ^36,40Ar, and ^80,84Kr, using principal component analysis (PCA) for data preprocessing. Consequently, a linear and cubic machine learning (ML) support vector machine (SVM) classification model was trained and tested, achieving a high identification capability, especially in the cubic one. These results offer improved computational efficiency compared to the previously reported methodologies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Particle Detectors and Radiation Detectors)

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16 pages, 15278 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Real-Time Energy Response Correction Method for Cs₃Cu₂I₅:Tl Scintillating Dosimeter

by Jiaming Li, Leilei Zhang, Jiaqi Wang, Hengyi Su, Zungang Wang and Zhiyuan Li

Sensors 2023, 23(21), 8910; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23218910 - 02 Nov 2023

Viewed by 811

Abstract

The uneven energy response of radiation detectors severely limits the accuracy of the dose rate meter used for radiation protection. Currently widely used in dose rate meters as a physical method of setting shielding compensation, the energy response correction error of the detector [...] Read more.

The uneven energy response of radiation detectors severely limits the accuracy of the dose rate meter used for radiation protection. Currently widely used in dose rate meters as a physical method of setting shielding compensation, the energy response correction error of the detector at different energies is mostly between 15 and 25%. This work designs a real-time correction method for energy response based on a novel Cs₃Cu₂I₅:Tl scintillation detector to improve the accuracy of the dose rate meter used for radiation protection. The technique utilizes the idea of pulse amplitude weighting (PAW) to segment the pulse amplitude histogram. This detector achieves an almost constant energy response after our correction. The experimental results show that compared to ¹³⁷Cs γ rays, the maximum error of the response is 8.26% in the photon energy ranging from 33 keV to 1.25 MeV, which is much better than ±30% of the recommended IEC 61526:2010, verifying the feasibility of PAW. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Particle Detectors and Radiation Detectors)

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14 pages, 323 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Unveiling Insights: Harnessing the Power of the Most-Frequent-Value Method for Sensor Data Analysis

by Victor V. Golovko, Oleg Kamaev and Jiansheng Sun

Sensors 2023, 23(21), 8856; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23218856 - 31 Oct 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 681

Abstract

The paper explores the application of Steiner’s most-frequent-value (MFV) statistical method in sensor data analysis. The MFV is introduced as a powerful tool to identify the most-common value in a dataset, even when data points are scattered, unlike traditional mode calculations. Furthermore, the [...] Read more.

The paper explores the application of Steiner’s most-frequent-value (MFV) statistical method in sensor data analysis. The MFV is introduced as a powerful tool to identify the most-common value in a dataset, even when data points are scattered, unlike traditional mode calculations. Furthermore, the paper underscores the MFV method’s versatility in estimating environmental gamma background blue (the natural level of gamma radiation present in the environment, typically originating from natural sources such as rocks, soil, and cosmic rays), making it useful in scenarios where traditional statistical methods are challenging. It presents the MFV approach as a reliable technique for characterizing ambient radiation levels around large-scale experiments, such as the DEAP-3600 dark matter detector. Using the MFV alongside passive sensors such as thermoluminescent detectors and employing a bootstrapping approach, this study showcases its effectiveness in evaluating background radiation and its aptness for estimating confidence intervals. In summary, this paper underscores the importance of the MFV and bootstrapping as valuable statistical tools in various scientific fields that involve the analysis of sensor data. These tools help in estimating the most-common values and make data analysis easier, especially in complex situations, where we need to be reasonably confident about our estimated ranges. Our calculations based on MFV statistics and bootstrapping indicate that the ambient radiation level in Cube Hall at SNOLAB is 35.19

μ

Gy for 1342 h of exposure, with an uncertainty range of

+ 3.41

to

- 3.59

μ

Gy, corresponding to a 68.27% confidence level. In the vicinity of the DEAP-3600 water shielding, the ambient radiation level is approximately 34.80

μ

Gy, with an uncertainty range of

+ 3.58

to

- 3.48

μ

Gy, also at a 68.27% confidence level. These findings offer crucial guidance for experimental design at SNOLAB, especially in the context of dark matter research. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Particle Detectors and Radiation Detectors)

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18 pages, 3168 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Radiation Damage by Heavy Ions in Silicon and Silicon Carbide Detectors

by Carmen Altana, Lucia Calcagno, Caterina Ciampi, Francesco La Via, Gaetano Lanzalone, Annamaria Muoio, Gabriele Pasquali, Domenico Pellegrino, Sebastiana Puglia, Giuseppe Rapisarda and Salvatore Tudisco

Sensors 2023, 23(14), 6522; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23146522 - 19 Jul 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1120

Abstract

While silicon has been a steadfast semiconductor material for the past 50 years, it is now facing competition from other materials, especially for detector design. In that respect, due to its high resistance to radiation damage, silicon carbide is one of the most [...] Read more.

While silicon has been a steadfast semiconductor material for the past 50 years, it is now facing competition from other materials, especially for detector design. In that respect, due to its high resistance to radiation damage, silicon carbide is one of the most promising materials. In this work, we discuss the radiation damage studies of a new, large area, p-n junction silicon carbide device developed by the SiCILIA collaboration. We have studied the general performances of several devices, as a function of fluence, irradiated in different experimental conditions with different beams. A standard p-n junction silicon detector was also irradiated for comparison. The new detectors manifest excellent performance in terms of stability of the main parameters, linearity, defect distribution, charge collection efficiency, energy resolution, leakage current, etc. Experimental results evidence a radiation resistance of SiC devices more than two order of magnitude higher than Si devices. The new construction technology applied to silicon carbide material has made it possible to create very robust devices with excellent performance. These devices will soon be available for all those scientific projects where a high resistance to radiation damage is required. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Particle Detectors and Radiation Detectors)

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16 pages, 11533 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Li₂^100deplMoO₄ Scintillating Bolometers for Rare-Event Search Experiments

by Iulian C. Bandac, Alexander S. Barabash, Laurent Bergé, Yury A. Borovlev, José Maria Calvo-Mozota, Paolo Carniti, Maurice Chapellier, Ioan Dafinei, Fedor A. Danevich, Louis Dumoulin, Federico Ferri, Andrea Giuliani, Claudio Gotti, Philippe Gras, Veronika D. Grigorieva, Aldo Ianni, Hawraa Khalife, Vladislav V. Kobychev, Sergey I. Konovalov, Pia Loaiza, Madhujith Madhukuttan, Evgeny P. Makarov, Pierre de Marcillac, Stefanos Marnieros, Claire A. Marrache-Kikuchi, Maria Martinez, Claudia Nones, Emiliano Olivieri, Alfonso Ortiz de Solórzano, Gianluigi Pessina, Denys V. Poda, Thierry Redon, Jean-Antoine Scarpaci, Vladimir N. Shlegel, Volodymyr I. Tretyak, Vladimir I. Umatov, Mykola M. Zarytskyy and Anastasiia Zolotarova Show full author list Hide full author list

Sensors 2023, 23(12), 5465; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23125465 - 09 Jun 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1071

Abstract

We report on the development of scintillating bolometers based on lithium molybdate crystals that contain molybdenum that has depleted into the double-

β

active isotope

^{100}

Mo (Li

_{2}

^{100 depl}

MoO

_{4}

). We used two Li

_{2}

^{100 depl}

MoO

_{4}

[...] Read more.

We report on the development of scintillating bolometers based on lithium molybdate crystals that contain molybdenum that has depleted into the double-

β

active isotope

^{100}

Mo (Li

_{2}

^{100 depl}

MoO

_{4}

). We used two Li

_{2}

^{100 depl}

MoO

_{4}

cubic samples, each of which consisted of 45-millimeter sides and had a mass of 0.28 kg; these samples were produced following the purification and crystallization protocols developed for double-

β

search experiments with

^{100}

Mo-enriched Li

_{2}

MoO

_{4}

crystals. Bolometric Ge detectors were utilized to register the scintillation photons that were emitted by the Li

_{2}

^{100 depl}

MoO

_{4}

crystal scintillators. The measurements were performed in the CROSS cryogenic set-up at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory (Spain). We observed that the Li

_{2}

^{100 depl}

MoO

_{4}

scintillating bolometers were characterized by an excellent spectrometric performance (∼3–6 keV of FWHM at 0.24–2.6 MeV

γ

s), moderate scintillation signal (∼0.3–0.6 keV/MeV scintillation-to-heat energy ratio, depending on the light collection conditions), and high radiopurity (

^{228}

Th and

^{226}

Ra activities are below a few µBq/kg), which is comparable with the best reported results of low-temperature detectors that are based on Li

_{2}

MoO

_{4}

using natural or

^{100}

Mo-enriched molybdenum content. The prospects of Li

_{2}

^{100 depl}

MoO

_{4}

bolometers for use in rare-event search experiments are briefly discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Particle Detectors and Radiation Detectors)

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13 pages, 8324 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Test Bench for Highly Segmented GRIT Double-Sided Silicon Strip Detectors: A Detector Quality Control Protocol

by J. A. Dueñas, A. Cobo, L. López, F. Galtarossa, A. Goasduff, D. Mengoni and A. M. Sánchez-Benítez

Sensors 2023, 23(12), 5384; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23125384 - 07 Jun 2023

Viewed by 1035

Abstract

This work deals with the characteristics of highly segmented double-sided silicon detectors. These are fundamental parts in many new state-of-the-art particle detection systems, and therefore they must perform optimally. We propose a test bench that can handle 256 electronic channels with off-the-shelf equipment, [...] Read more.

This work deals with the characteristics of highly segmented double-sided silicon detectors. These are fundamental parts in many new state-of-the-art particle detection systems, and therefore they must perform optimally. We propose a test bench that can handle 256 electronic channels with off-the-shelf equipment, as well as a detector quality control protocol to ensure that the detectors meet the requirements. Detectors with a large number of strips bring new technological challenges and issues that need to be carefully monitored and understood. One of the standard 500

μ

m thick detectors of the GRIT array was investigated, undergoing studies that revealed its IV curve, charge collection efficiency, and energy resolution. From the data obtained, we calculated, among other things, the depletion voltage (110 V), the resistivity of the bulk material (9 k

Ω \cdot

cm), and the electronic noise contribution (8 keV). We present, for the first time, a methodology called “the energy triangle’’ to visualize the effect of charge sharing between two adjacent strips and to study the hit distribution with the interstrip-to-strip hit ratio (ISR). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Particle Detectors and Radiation Detectors)

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Review

Jump to: Research

31 pages, 12864 KiB

Open AccessReview

Avalanche Photodiodes and Silicon Photomultipliers of Non-Planar Designs

by Sergey Vinogradov

Sensors 2023, 23(12), 5369; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23125369 - 06 Jun 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2497

Abstract

Conventional designs of an avalanche photodiode (APD) have been based on a planar p–n junction since the 1960s. APD developments have been driven by the necessity to provide a uniform electric field over the active junction area and to prevent edge breakdown by [...] Read more.

Conventional designs of an avalanche photodiode (APD) have been based on a planar p–n junction since the 1960s. APD developments have been driven by the necessity to provide a uniform electric field over the active junction area and to prevent edge breakdown by special measures. Most modern silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) are designed as an array of Geiger-mode APD cells based on planar p–n junctions. However, the planar design faces an inherent trade-off between photon detection efficiency and dynamic range due to loss of an active area at the cell edges. Non-planar designs of APDs and SiPMs have also been known since the development of spherical APDs (1968), metal-resistor-semiconductor APDs (1989), and micro-well APDs (2005). The recent development of tip avalanche photodiodes (2020) based on the spherical p–n junction eliminates the trade-off, outperforms the planar SiPMs in the photon detection efficiency, and opens new opportunities for SiPM improvements. Furthermore, the latest developments in APDs based on electric field-line crowding and charge-focusing topology with quasi-spherical p–n junctions (2019–2023) show promising functionality in linear and Geiger operating modes. This paper presents an overview of designs and performances of non-planar APDs and SiPMs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Particle Detectors and Radiation Detectors)

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